Kristin Donnelly | University of California, Berkeley (original) (raw)

Papers by Kristin Donnelly

We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family r... more We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family roles in two large, nationally representative U.S. samples, the Monitoring the Future survey of 12th graders (1976–2013) and the General Social Survey of adults (1977–2012). Twelfth graders became more accepting of working mothers and equal roles for women in the workplace between the 1970s and the 2010s, with most change occurring between the 1970s and the late 1990s. Acceptance of dual-income families and fathers working half-time or not at all (stay-at-home dads) also increased. Thus, for the most part, Millennials (born 1980s–1990s) have continued trends toward more egalitarian gender roles. However, slightly more 12th graders in the 2010s (vs. the late 1990s) favored the husband as the achiever and decision maker in the family. Adults ’ attitudes toward working mothers became more egalitarian between the 1970s and the early 1990s, showed a small ‘‘backlash’ ’ in the late 1990s, and t...

Journal of Marketing Research

Seven experiments (total N = 3,509) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that ti... more Seven experiments (total N = 3,509) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that time periods of equal duration are not always perceived as equivalent. We find that periods feel longer when they span more time categories (e.g., hour, month). For example, periods like 1:45pm – 3:15pm and March 31st – April 6th (boundary-expanded) feel longer than, say, 1:15pm – 2:45pm and April 2nd – April 8th (boundary-compressed). Reflecting this, participants anticipated completing more work during boundary-expanded periods than equivalent boundary-compressed periods. This effect appears to result from the salience and placement of time boundaries. As a consequence, participants preferred scheduling pleasant activities for boundary-expanded and unpleasant activities for boundary-compressed periods. Moreover, participants were willing to pay more to avoid—and required more money to endure—a long wait when it was presented as boundary-expanded. Finally, data from over 1.8 million rides...

Five experiments (N = 2,478) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that time peri... more Five experiments (N = 2,478) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that time periods of equal duration are not always perceived as equivalent. We find that periods feel longer when they span more hour marks. For example, periods like 1:45pm – 3:15pm (boundaryexpanded) feel longer than 1:15pm – 2:45pm (boundary-compressed). Reflecting this, participants anticipated completing more work during boundary-expanded periods than equivalent boundary-compressed periods. This effect appears to result from the salience and placement of hour boundaries. As a consequence, participants preferred scheduling pleasant activities for boundary-expanded and unpleasant activities for boundary-compressed periods. Moreover, participants were willing to pay more to avoid—and required more money to endure—a long wait when it was presented as boundary-expanded. Finally, data from over 1.8 million rideshare trips suggest that consumers are more likely to choose independent rides (e.g., UberX) ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Empirical audit and review is an approach to assessing the evidentiary value of a research area. ... more Empirical audit and review is an approach to assessing the evidentiary value of a research area. It involves identifying a topic and selecting a cross-section of studies for replication. We apply the method to research on the psychological consequences of scarcity. Starting with the papers citing a seminal publication in the field, we conducted replications of 20 studies that evaluate the role of scarcity priming in pain sensitivity, resource allocation, materialism, and many other domains. There was considerable variability in the replicability, with some strong successes and other undeniable failures. Empirical audit and review does not attempt to assign an overall replication rate for a heterogeneous field, but rather facilitates researchers seeking to incorporate strength of evidence as they refine theories and plan new investigations in the research area. This method allows for an integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches to review and enables the growth of a cumul...

Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influe... more Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influenced by simulation: volume estimation. Previous research has identified various ways in which volume estimates are biased but typically has not presented a psychological process by which such judgments are made. Our simulation-informsperception account proposes that people often estimate a container’s size by simulating filling it. First, this produces an orientation effect: The same container is judged larger when right side up than when upside down because of the greater ease of imagining filling an upright container. Second, we identified a cavern effect: Imagining pouring water through a narrow opening toward a relatively wide base produces a sense that the container is cavernous and large (compared with identically sized, wide-topped, narrow-based containers). By testing for and demonstrating the importance of simulation to these effects, we showed how complex perceptual judgments c...

Journal of Vision, Sep 1, 2018

Current Opinion in Psychology, 2021

Self-knowledge includes not only beliefs about one's own traits and abilities, but beliefs about ... more Self-knowledge includes not only beliefs about one's own traits and abilities, but beliefs about how others view the self. Are such metaperceptions accurate? This article identifies two distinct standards used to determine meta-accuracy. The correlational approach tests whether metaperceptions correlate with an accuracy criterion (i.e., social perceptions). The mean-level approach instead asks whether metaperceptions tend to err in a systematic direction. This article reviews complementary lessons gleaned from research taking one approach or the other: whether metaperceptions merely reflect self-perceptions, whose metaperceptions are more or less accurate, and what psychological processes impede meta-accuracy, among others. Ultimately, neither approach is endorsed as unconditionally superior. Instead, which approach offers the proper accuracy standard should depend on the decisions those metaperceptions will guide.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2019

Using psychology professors as participants, the present study investigates how publications in l... more Using psychology professors as participants, the present study investigates how publications in low-impact psychology journals affect evaluations of a hypothetical tenure-track psychology job applicant. Are “weak” publications treated as evidence for or against a candidate’s ability? Two experiments revealed that an applicant was rated as stronger when several weak publications were added to several strong ones, and was rated as weaker when the weak publications were removed. A third experiment showed that the additional weak publications were not merely viewed as a signal of additional strong publications in the future; instead, the weak publications themselves appear to be valued. In a fourth and final experiment, we found that adding a greater number of weak publications also strengthened the applicant, but not more so than adding just a few. The study further suggests that the weak publications may signal ability, as applicants with added weak publications were rated as both more hard-working and more likely to generate innovative research ideas. Advice for tenure-track psychology applicants: Don’t hesitate to publish in even the weakest journals, as long as it does not keep you from publishing in strong journals. Implications of the market rewarding publications in low-impact journals are discussed.

Psychological Science, 2018

Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influe... more Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influenced by simulation: volume estimation. Previous research has identified various ways in which volume estimates are biased but typically has not presented a psychological process by which such judgments are made. Our simulation-informs- perception account proposes that people often estimate a container’s size by simulating filling it. First, this produces an orientation effect: The same container is judged larger when right side up than when upside down because of the greater ease of imagining filling an upright container. Second, we identified a cavern effect: Imagining pouring water through a narrow opening toward a relatively wide base produces a sense that the container is cavernous and large (compared with identically sized, wide-topped, narrow-based containers). By testing for and demonstrating the importance of simulation to these effects, we showed how complex perceptual judgments can be distorted by higher level cognitive influences even when they are necessarily informed by modularly processed perceptual input.

Journal of Memory and Language, 2019

As part of a criminal investigation, the police often administer a recognition memory task known ... more As part of a criminal investigation, the police often administer a recognition memory task known as a photo lineup. A typical 6-person photo lineup consists of one suspect (who may or may not be guilty) and five physically similar foils (all known to be innocent). The photos can be shown simultaneously (i.e., all at once) or sequentially (i.e., one at a time). Approximately 30% of U.S. police departments have moved to using the sequential lineup procedure over the last 30 years, yet its theoretical underpinnings remain poorly understood. A simple signal detection model makes several unexpected predictions about how the sequential lineup procedure should affect the ability of eyewitnesses to discriminate innocent from guilty suspects. For example, empirical discriminability (area under the receiver operating characteristic) should decrease as the position of the suspect in the lineup increases. In addition, under some conditions, a fair sequential lineup should not yield higher discriminability than a single-person (non-lineup) recognition test known as a showup. The results of two experiments reported here confirmed these predictions. Counterintuitively, even though empirical discriminability decreased as the suspect’s sequential position increased, a signal detection model fit to the data indicated that theoretical discriminability exhibited a small effect in the opposite direction (increasing with the sequential position of the suspect). The latter result is consistent with diagnostic feature-detection theory of eyewitness identification.

Journal of Social Psychology, 2016

We examined generational differences in reasons for attending college among a nationally represen... more We examined generational differences in reasons for attending college among a nationally representative sample of college students (N = 8 million) entering college between 1971–2014. We validated the items on reasons for attending college against an established measure of extrinsic and intrinsic values among college students in 2014 (n = 189). Millennials (in college 2000s–2010s) and Generation X (1980s–1990s) valued extrinsic reasons for going to college (“to make more money”) more, and anti-extrinsic reasons (“to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas”) less than Boomers when they were the same age in the 1960s–1970s. Extrinsic reasons for going to college were higher in years with more income inequality, college enrollment, and extrinsic values. These results mirror previous research finding generational increases in extrinsic values begun by GenX and continued by Millennials, suggesting that more recent generations are more likely to favor extrinsic values in their decision-making.

Sex Roles, 2017

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of Sandra Bem’s most notable contributions to feminist p... more The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of Sandra Bem’s most notable contributions to feminist psychology, measuring an individual’s identification with traditionally masculine and feminine qualities. In a cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. college students’ scores on the BSRI (34 samples, N = 8,027), we examined changes in ratings on the Bem masculinity (M) and femininity (F) scales since the early 1990s. Additional analyses used data collected in a previous meta-analysis (Twenge 1997) to document changes since the BSRI’s inception in 1974. Our results reveal that women’s femininity scores have decreased significantly (d = −.26) between 1993 and 2012, whereas their masculinity remained stable. No significant changes were observed for men. Expanded analyses of data from 1974 to 2012 (94 samples, N = 24,801) found that women’s M rose significantly (d = .23), with no changes in women’s F, men’s M, and men’s F. Women’s androgyny scores showed a significant increase since 1974, but not since 1993. Men’s androgyny remained the same in both time periods. Our findings suggest that since the 1990s, U.S. college women have become less likely to endorse feminine traits as self-representative, potentially revealing a devaluation of traditional femininity. However, it is also possible that the scale items do not match modern gender stereotypes. Future research may need to update the BSRI to reflect current conceptions of gender.

Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2016

We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family r... more We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family roles in two large, nationally representative U.S. samples, the Monitoring the Future survey of 12th graders (1976–2013) and the General Social Survey of adults (1977–2012). Twelfth graders became more accepting of working mothers and equal roles for women in the workplace between the 1970s and the 2010s, with most change occurring between the 1970s and the late 1990s. Acceptance of dual-income families and fathers working half-time or not at all (stay-at-home dads) also increased. Thus, for the most part, Millennials (born 1980s–1990s) have continued trends toward more egalitarian gender roles. However, slightly more 12th graders in the 2010s (vs. the late 1990s) favored the husband as the achiever and decision maker in the family. Adults’ attitudes toward working mothers became more egalitarian between the 1970s and the early 1990s, showed a small ‘‘backlash’’ in the late 1990s, and then continued the trend toward increased egalitarianism in the 2000s and 2010s. In hierarchical linear modeling analyses separating the effects of time period, generation/cohort, and age, trends were primarily due to time period with a generational peak in egalitarianism among White women Boomers (born 1946–1964). Policy makers should recognize that support for working mothers is now a solid majority position in the United States and design programs for working families accordingly.

We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family r... more We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family roles in two large, nationally representative U.S. samples, the Monitoring the Future survey of 12th graders (1976–2013) and the General Social Survey of adults (1977–2012). Twelfth graders became more accepting of working mothers and equal roles for women in the workplace between the 1970s and the 2010s, with most change occurring between the 1970s and the late 1990s. Acceptance of dual-income families and fathers working half-time or not at all (stay-at-home dads) also increased. Thus, for the most part, Millennials (born 1980s–1990s) have continued trends toward more egalitarian gender roles. However, slightly more 12th graders in the 2010s (vs. the late 1990s) favored the husband as the achiever and decision maker in the family. Adults ’ attitudes toward working mothers became more egalitarian between the 1970s and the early 1990s, showed a small ‘‘backlash’ ’ in the late 1990s, and t...

Journal of Marketing Research

Seven experiments (total N = 3,509) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that ti... more Seven experiments (total N = 3,509) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that time periods of equal duration are not always perceived as equivalent. We find that periods feel longer when they span more time categories (e.g., hour, month). For example, periods like 1:45pm – 3:15pm and March 31st – April 6th (boundary-expanded) feel longer than, say, 1:15pm – 2:45pm and April 2nd – April 8th (boundary-compressed). Reflecting this, participants anticipated completing more work during boundary-expanded periods than equivalent boundary-compressed periods. This effect appears to result from the salience and placement of time boundaries. As a consequence, participants preferred scheduling pleasant activities for boundary-expanded and unpleasant activities for boundary-compressed periods. Moreover, participants were willing to pay more to avoid—and required more money to endure—a long wait when it was presented as boundary-expanded. Finally, data from over 1.8 million rides...

Five experiments (N = 2,478) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that time peri... more Five experiments (N = 2,478) and a large field dataset (N = 1,820,671) demonstrate that time periods of equal duration are not always perceived as equivalent. We find that periods feel longer when they span more hour marks. For example, periods like 1:45pm – 3:15pm (boundaryexpanded) feel longer than 1:15pm – 2:45pm (boundary-compressed). Reflecting this, participants anticipated completing more work during boundary-expanded periods than equivalent boundary-compressed periods. This effect appears to result from the salience and placement of hour boundaries. As a consequence, participants preferred scheduling pleasant activities for boundary-expanded and unpleasant activities for boundary-compressed periods. Moreover, participants were willing to pay more to avoid—and required more money to endure—a long wait when it was presented as boundary-expanded. Finally, data from over 1.8 million rideshare trips suggest that consumers are more likely to choose independent rides (e.g., UberX) ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Empirical audit and review is an approach to assessing the evidentiary value of a research area. ... more Empirical audit and review is an approach to assessing the evidentiary value of a research area. It involves identifying a topic and selecting a cross-section of studies for replication. We apply the method to research on the psychological consequences of scarcity. Starting with the papers citing a seminal publication in the field, we conducted replications of 20 studies that evaluate the role of scarcity priming in pain sensitivity, resource allocation, materialism, and many other domains. There was considerable variability in the replicability, with some strong successes and other undeniable failures. Empirical audit and review does not attempt to assign an overall replication rate for a heterogeneous field, but rather facilitates researchers seeking to incorporate strength of evidence as they refine theories and plan new investigations in the research area. This method allows for an integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches to review and enables the growth of a cumul...

Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influe... more Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influenced by simulation: volume estimation. Previous research has identified various ways in which volume estimates are biased but typically has not presented a psychological process by which such judgments are made. Our simulation-informsperception account proposes that people often estimate a container’s size by simulating filling it. First, this produces an orientation effect: The same container is judged larger when right side up than when upside down because of the greater ease of imagining filling an upright container. Second, we identified a cavern effect: Imagining pouring water through a narrow opening toward a relatively wide base produces a sense that the container is cavernous and large (compared with identically sized, wide-topped, narrow-based containers). By testing for and demonstrating the importance of simulation to these effects, we showed how complex perceptual judgments c...

Journal of Vision, Sep 1, 2018

Current Opinion in Psychology, 2021

Self-knowledge includes not only beliefs about one's own traits and abilities, but beliefs about ... more Self-knowledge includes not only beliefs about one's own traits and abilities, but beliefs about how others view the self. Are such metaperceptions accurate? This article identifies two distinct standards used to determine meta-accuracy. The correlational approach tests whether metaperceptions correlate with an accuracy criterion (i.e., social perceptions). The mean-level approach instead asks whether metaperceptions tend to err in a systematic direction. This article reviews complementary lessons gleaned from research taking one approach or the other: whether metaperceptions merely reflect self-perceptions, whose metaperceptions are more or less accurate, and what psychological processes impede meta-accuracy, among others. Ultimately, neither approach is endorsed as unconditionally superior. Instead, which approach offers the proper accuracy standard should depend on the decisions those metaperceptions will guide.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2019

Using psychology professors as participants, the present study investigates how publications in l... more Using psychology professors as participants, the present study investigates how publications in low-impact psychology journals affect evaluations of a hypothetical tenure-track psychology job applicant. Are “weak” publications treated as evidence for or against a candidate’s ability? Two experiments revealed that an applicant was rated as stronger when several weak publications were added to several strong ones, and was rated as weaker when the weak publications were removed. A third experiment showed that the additional weak publications were not merely viewed as a signal of additional strong publications in the future; instead, the weak publications themselves appear to be valued. In a fourth and final experiment, we found that adding a greater number of weak publications also strengthened the applicant, but not more so than adding just a few. The study further suggests that the weak publications may signal ability, as applicants with added weak publications were rated as both more hard-working and more likely to generate innovative research ideas. Advice for tenure-track psychology applicants: Don’t hesitate to publish in even the weakest journals, as long as it does not keep you from publishing in strong journals. Implications of the market rewarding publications in low-impact journals are discussed.

Psychological Science, 2018

Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influe... more Although mental simulation underlies many day-to-day judgments, we identified a new domain influenced by simulation: volume estimation. Previous research has identified various ways in which volume estimates are biased but typically has not presented a psychological process by which such judgments are made. Our simulation-informs- perception account proposes that people often estimate a container’s size by simulating filling it. First, this produces an orientation effect: The same container is judged larger when right side up than when upside down because of the greater ease of imagining filling an upright container. Second, we identified a cavern effect: Imagining pouring water through a narrow opening toward a relatively wide base produces a sense that the container is cavernous and large (compared with identically sized, wide-topped, narrow-based containers). By testing for and demonstrating the importance of simulation to these effects, we showed how complex perceptual judgments can be distorted by higher level cognitive influences even when they are necessarily informed by modularly processed perceptual input.

Journal of Memory and Language, 2019

As part of a criminal investigation, the police often administer a recognition memory task known ... more As part of a criminal investigation, the police often administer a recognition memory task known as a photo lineup. A typical 6-person photo lineup consists of one suspect (who may or may not be guilty) and five physically similar foils (all known to be innocent). The photos can be shown simultaneously (i.e., all at once) or sequentially (i.e., one at a time). Approximately 30% of U.S. police departments have moved to using the sequential lineup procedure over the last 30 years, yet its theoretical underpinnings remain poorly understood. A simple signal detection model makes several unexpected predictions about how the sequential lineup procedure should affect the ability of eyewitnesses to discriminate innocent from guilty suspects. For example, empirical discriminability (area under the receiver operating characteristic) should decrease as the position of the suspect in the lineup increases. In addition, under some conditions, a fair sequential lineup should not yield higher discriminability than a single-person (non-lineup) recognition test known as a showup. The results of two experiments reported here confirmed these predictions. Counterintuitively, even though empirical discriminability decreased as the suspect’s sequential position increased, a signal detection model fit to the data indicated that theoretical discriminability exhibited a small effect in the opposite direction (increasing with the sequential position of the suspect). The latter result is consistent with diagnostic feature-detection theory of eyewitness identification.

Journal of Social Psychology, 2016

We examined generational differences in reasons for attending college among a nationally represen... more We examined generational differences in reasons for attending college among a nationally representative sample of college students (N = 8 million) entering college between 1971–2014. We validated the items on reasons for attending college against an established measure of extrinsic and intrinsic values among college students in 2014 (n = 189). Millennials (in college 2000s–2010s) and Generation X (1980s–1990s) valued extrinsic reasons for going to college (“to make more money”) more, and anti-extrinsic reasons (“to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas”) less than Boomers when they were the same age in the 1960s–1970s. Extrinsic reasons for going to college were higher in years with more income inequality, college enrollment, and extrinsic values. These results mirror previous research finding generational increases in extrinsic values begun by GenX and continued by Millennials, suggesting that more recent generations are more likely to favor extrinsic values in their decision-making.

Sex Roles, 2017

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of Sandra Bem’s most notable contributions to feminist p... more The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is one of Sandra Bem’s most notable contributions to feminist psychology, measuring an individual’s identification with traditionally masculine and feminine qualities. In a cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. college students’ scores on the BSRI (34 samples, N = 8,027), we examined changes in ratings on the Bem masculinity (M) and femininity (F) scales since the early 1990s. Additional analyses used data collected in a previous meta-analysis (Twenge 1997) to document changes since the BSRI’s inception in 1974. Our results reveal that women’s femininity scores have decreased significantly (d = −.26) between 1993 and 2012, whereas their masculinity remained stable. No significant changes were observed for men. Expanded analyses of data from 1974 to 2012 (94 samples, N = 24,801) found that women’s M rose significantly (d = .23), with no changes in women’s F, men’s M, and men’s F. Women’s androgyny scores showed a significant increase since 1974, but not since 1993. Men’s androgyny remained the same in both time periods. Our findings suggest that since the 1990s, U.S. college women have become less likely to endorse feminine traits as self-representative, potentially revealing a devaluation of traditional femininity. However, it is also possible that the scale items do not match modern gender stereotypes. Future research may need to update the BSRI to reflect current conceptions of gender.

Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2016

We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family r... more We examine time period and generational differences in attitudes toward women’s work and family roles in two large, nationally representative U.S. samples, the Monitoring the Future survey of 12th graders (1976–2013) and the General Social Survey of adults (1977–2012). Twelfth graders became more accepting of working mothers and equal roles for women in the workplace between the 1970s and the 2010s, with most change occurring between the 1970s and the late 1990s. Acceptance of dual-income families and fathers working half-time or not at all (stay-at-home dads) also increased. Thus, for the most part, Millennials (born 1980s–1990s) have continued trends toward more egalitarian gender roles. However, slightly more 12th graders in the 2010s (vs. the late 1990s) favored the husband as the achiever and decision maker in the family. Adults’ attitudes toward working mothers became more egalitarian between the 1970s and the early 1990s, showed a small ‘‘backlash’’ in the late 1990s, and then continued the trend toward increased egalitarianism in the 2000s and 2010s. In hierarchical linear modeling analyses separating the effects of time period, generation/cohort, and age, trends were primarily due to time period with a generational peak in egalitarianism among White women Boomers (born 1946–1964). Policy makers should recognize that support for working mothers is now a solid majority position in the United States and design programs for working families accordingly.